Greg asks about how to get a frame out of a super where the frames are all
glued in.  Here are some ideas.
 
Scrape as much propolis and wax as you can from the ends of the the top
bars where they rest on the rabbit.  Then take a long knife (machete) and
run down next to the super sides to cut loose the bridge comb that may be
built there.  Remove the super from the hive and turn it up on one end.
Slide the knife up the ends of the super, under the frame ears, and cut the
bridge comb between the end bars and the ends of the super.  Remove the wax
from the frame bottom bars.  Set the super upright on two pieces of 2x4 cut
14.5 inches long.  This will allow the super to be pushed down because the
frames will be held up by the 2x4s.  A sharp hive tool can then be run
between the frame end bars to see if the frames can be separated, starting
with the outside frames.  If not, a long knife will neet to be run down
between the combs to cut the bridge comb.  Remove the frames one at a time,
scrape the frame, remove unwanted bridge comb and replace the frames into
another super, or the old one if it has been thoroughly cleaned and is
reusable.
 
Another way to handle your situation is to lift the full honey super and
put a brood nest super (or two westerns) under it, remove the excluder and
put honey supers on top of the full deep.  Let the queen move up into the
new brood nest(s) supers.  When she does and has 4-5 combs of brood, add
another brood nest super(s) below the full honey super.  Also if she is in
the new brood nest super, turn the bottom brood nest super upside down.
She will not lay in the downward sloping cells.  In 14 days remove the
bottom super and dispose of it as appropriate.
 
The bees are probably not mite tolerant.  They have probably been in a
rather isolated area where bees from other hives have not yet drifted.  We
hear of occasional reports of bee colonies in buildings here, but usually
there haven't been other colonies in the area, or the building is in an
area surrounded by forest.  Colonies is these situations apparently do not
receive drifting bees from other colonies foraging in the area, especially
now that most feral colonies are dead.  When the colony is removed from the
building and put into a separate hive in an apiary it will die within two
years if left untreated for mites.
 
Of course the only way to know if a colony is tolerant of mites is to not
treat it with any chemical and see if it survives.
 
Good luck Greg.
 
James C. Bach
Yakima WA
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